Neurotransmitters and hormones, as well as other types of extracellular signals such as light and odors, create intracellular signals by altering the amounts of cyclic nucleotide monophosphates (cAMP and cGMP) within cells. These intracellular messengers alter the functions of many intracellular proteins. Cyclic AMP regulates the activity of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). PKA phosphorylates and regulates the function of many types of proteins, including ion channels, enzymes, and transcription factors. Downstream mediators of cGMP signaling also include kinases and ion channels. In addition to actions mediated by kinases, cAMP and cGMP bind directly to some cell proteins and directly regulate their activities.
Cyclic nucleotides are produced from the actions of adenylyl cyclase and guanylyl cyclase, which convert ATP to cAMP and GTP to cGMP. Extracellular signals, often through the actions of G protein-coupled receptors, regulate the activities of the cyclases. Alternatively, the amount of cAMP and cGMP may be altered by regulating the activities of the enzymes that degrade cyclic nucleotides. Cell homeostasis is maintained by the rapid degradation of cyclic nucleotides after stimulus-induced increases. The enzymes that degrade cyclic nucleotides are called 3′,5′-cyclic nucleotide-specific phosphodiesterases (PDEs).
Eleven PDE gene families (PDE1-PDE11) have been identified based on their distinct amino acid sequences, catalytic and regulatory characteristics, and sensitivity to small molecule inhibitors. These families are coded for by 21 genes; and further multiple splice variants are transcribed from many of these genes. Expression patterns of each of the gene families are distinct. PDEs differ with respect to their affinity for cAMP and cGMP. Activities of different PDEs are regulated by different signals. For example, PDE1 is stimulated by Ca2+/calmodulin. PDE2 activity is stimulated by cGMP. PDE3 is inhibited by cGMP. PDE4 is cAMP specific and is specifically inhibited by rolipram. PDES is cGMP-specific. PDE6 is expressed in retina.
PDE10 sequences were identified by using bioinformatics and sequence information from other PDE gene families (Fujishige et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:18438-18445, 1999; Loughney et al., Gene 234:109-117, 1999; Soderling et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:7071-7076, 1999). The PDE10 gene family is distinguished based on its amino acid sequence, functional properties and tissue distribution. The human PDE10 gene is large, over 200 kilobases, with up to 24 exons coding for each of the splice variants. The amino acid sequence is characterized by two GAF domains (which bind cGMP), a catalytic region, and alternatively spliced N and C termini. Numerous splice variants are possible because at least three alternative exons encode N termini and two exons encode C-termini. PDE10A1 is a 779 amino acid protein that hydrolyzes both cAMP and cGMP. The Km values for cAMP and cGMP are 0.05 and 3.0 micromolar, respectively. In addition to human variants, several variants with high homology have been isolated from both rat and mouse tissues and sequence banks.
PDE10 RNA transcripts were initially detected in human testis and brain. Subsequent immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the highest levels of PDE10 are expressed in the basal ganglia. Specifically, striatal neurons in the olfactory tubercle, caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens are enriched in PDE10. Western blots did not reveal the expression of PDE10 in other brain tissues, although immunoprecipitation of the PDE10 complex was possible in hippocampal and cortical tissues. This suggests that the expression level of PDE10 in these other tissues is 100-fold less than in striatal neurons. Expression in hippocampus is limited to the cell bodies, whereas PDE10 is expressed in terminals, dendrites and axons of striatal neurons.
The tissue distribution of PDE10 indicates that PDE10 inhibitors can be used to raise levels of cAMP and/or cGMP within cells that express the PDE10 enzyme, for example, in neurons that comprise the basal ganglia and therefore would be useful in treating a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions involving the basal ganglia such as obesity, non-insulin dependent diabetes, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and the like.
Noninvasive, nuclear imaging techniques can be used to obtain basic and diagnostic information about the physiology and biochemistry of a variety of living subjects including experimental animals, normal humans and patients. These techniques rely on the use of sophisticated imaging instrumentation that is capable of detecting radiation emitted from radiotracers administered to such living subjects. The information obtained can be reconstructed to provide planar and tomographic images that reveal distribution of the radiotracer as a function of time. Use of appropriately designed radiotracers can result in images which contain information on the structure, function and most importantly, the physiology and biochemistry of the subject. Much of this information cannot be obtained by other means. The radiotracers used in these studies are designed to have defined behaviors in vivo which permit the determination of specific information concerning the physiology or biochemistry of the subject or the effects that various diseases or drugs have on the physiology or biochemistry of the subject. Currently, radiotracers are available for obtaining useful information concerning such things as cardiac function, myocardial blood flow, lung perfusion, liver function, brain blood flow, regional brain glucose and oxygen metabolism.
Compounds of the invention can be labeled with either positron or gamma emitting radionuclides. For imaging, the most commonly used positron emitting (PET) radionuclides are 11C, 18F, 15O, 13N, 76Br, 77Br, 123I, or 125I, wherein 11C, 18F, 123I, or 125I are preferred, all of which are accelerator produced. In the two decades, one of the most active areas of nuclear medicine research has been the development of receptor imaging radiotracers. These tracers bind with high affinity and specificity to selective receptors and neuroreceptors. For example, Johnson and Johnson has synthesized and evaluated 18F-JNJ41510417 as a selective and high-affinity radioligand for in vivo brain imaging of PDE10A using PET (The Journal Of Nuclear Medicine; Vol. 51; No. 10; October 2010).
The present inventors have made an extensive study for the purpose of developing compounds for treating cognitive disorder, preferably schizophrenia, which would be not only effective for improving the negative symptoms, but also effective for improving the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, furthermore such compounds would have less side-effects as compared with those shown by drugs known in prior art. As the result, the present inventors have successfully found novel azetidine and piperidine compounds having strong and selective inhibition activity against PDE10 receptors. Alternatively, it is also preferable that the novel azetidine and piperidine compounds can be developed for treating Huntington's Disease.
Azetidine and piperidine compounds disclosed in WO2011/143365 have substituents different from those of the azetidine and piperidine compounds of the present invention.
Neuroscience is a particularly challenging field in drug development. Complexities in molecular signaling and electrical circuitry make it difficult to understand disease and design treatment and the blood-brain barrier stands in the way of therapies. The brain is arguably our most vital organ, and is extremely sensitive to chemicals in its environment. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain from damage by keeping many foreign and natural molecules from entering. It surrounds all blood vessels that feed the brain. It is composed of a single layer of cells, tightly bound together. It is not sufficient for a potential neurotherapeutic agent to move across the BBB, it also has to stay in the brain long enough to exert its desired action. This means that it also has to avoid being a substrate for a variety of transport proteins that work to extrude compounds from the brain. There are at least six such outwardly directed active efflux mechanisms in the BBB (Alavijeh et al. NeuroRx. 2005 October; 2(4): 554-571, see p. 565, FIG. 3), the most prominent of which is a phosphorylated glycoprotein called P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a 170-kDa member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of membrane transporters, which in humans is encoded by multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1). P-gp is located on the apical surface of the endothelial cells of the brain capillaries toward the vascular lumen and contributes to the poor BBB penetration of a number of drugs. In a study of the concentration of 32 structurally diverse CNS drugs in brain, plasma, and CSF of wild-type and (P-gp) knockout mice, 29 of these drugs showed marked differences in brain/plasma ratios between knockout and wild-type mice. There have been attempts to establish quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) for P-gp, but the task is made difficult by the broad specificity of this transporter.
Under these circumstances, development of drugs for treating cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia, having improved Central Nervous System (CNS) drug profile such as high permeability, low efflux, high receptor or target occupancy, and high PDE10 selectivity profile have been eagerly needed.